Mark 9:1-10 – Heaven Came Down – Bible study

Mark 9:1-10 Heaven Came Down The title of the message is a title to a popular Christian hymn by John Peterson. We do not sing it here because it is not in our hymn book, but it describes what salvation is to the believer. It is heaven coming down to us and the glory of God filling the believer. I wonder if this passage is what John Peterson had in mind when he wrote that song. I am not certain but in the Scripture heaven was not actually coming down. Heaven had been down for around 33 years. Heave was coming out. In this passage, like in some others, Peter obviously got some things wrong; however, one statement that he made was absolutely right. Mark 9:5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here Let me share some reasons why it was good for these people to be there. I. It was good to be there because they were learning about Jesus. A. By my chronology, it would appear that the disciples had been with Jesus for a long time by now. 1. In fact, I think it is much later in the ministry of Jesus than the chapter marker might indicate. 2. Still the disciples were having a problem understanding who Jesus was. 3. They certainly had had many opportunities to figure it out. 4. In fact, they had even stumbled over the words themselves. B. HUMAN SAYINGS This story started in the last chapter. 1. \#Mark 8:27-29\ 2. Jesus had taken the disciples up north to Caesarea Philippi and asked, "Whom do men say that I am? 3. He got a collection of opinions before Peter, under the direction of the Holy Ghost, answered, "Thou art the Christ." 4. But did he understand what he was saying? a. Im not so sure. b. In fact, Jesus might not have been either for the first verse of Mark 9 tells us that He told them they would see something of who He was in the future. c. We do tend to do better at understanding the things we see than just the things we hear, dont we. C. \#2-3\ HEAVENLY SIGHTS – And so six days later, God lets them see who Jesus is. 1. In the mountain that night, there were three miracles. a. Two of them were visual. b. One was audio. c. Why two visuals? Because they, like us, need all the help we can get to understand something. 2. \#2-3\ The first visual miracles was the transformation. a. \#2\ The Bible says that Jesus was "transfigured." b. That means transformed, changed. c. The Greek word that is used is the word we get metamorphosis from. d. That is the word that we often use to speak of a larva (a worm) as it turns into a butterfly. e. The notion is that the larva was always a butterfly on the inside. Its beauty was just hidden in a worms body. 3. Isaiah prophesied the common appearance that Messiah would have. Is 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. a. There would be nothing unusual about Jesus appearance. (1) He would be just another root in a dry ground. (2) There would no special form or comeliness about Him. (3) The word "comeliness" means no beauty or glory about Him. (4) There would be no special beauty that would cause Him to stand out or be desired. b. From all outward appearances, Jesus looked like an ordinary Man. c. But the God of all lay hidden within that robe of flesh!! 4. \#4\ The second visual was the appearance Moses and Elijah. a. I dont think they were there for the revealing of Jesus but for another reason. b. Even so, their presence put an exclamation mark on what they were seeing. c. It is for certain that not everyone gets a visit from the godly dead. 5. But still, based on Peters statement to build the three tabernacles, it would appear that they STILL did not understand who Jesus was. a. In their defense, \#6\ does say of them: (1) They were SORE scared. The word "sore" means very much scared. (2) And it says, "they wist not what to say." (a) That means they did not know what to say. (b) Lesson – If you dont know what to say, say nothing. (c) It is better to remain silent and let people suppose you are a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. b. But even so, it is obvious that after seeing the two heavenly sights they still did not understand. c. So God gives a third miracle. D. \#7\ HOLY STATEMENT – That night, they also got to hear with their ears that Jesus was God. Mark 9:7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. 1. Their ears had heard that message before. a. John the Baptist spoke words like them. "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world!" b. They probably had heard of the words of Simeon or Anna who met Joseph and Mary when they brought Jesus to the temple. c. They themselves had discussed the possibilities and made similar declarations to one another. 2. But on that night, they heard the voice of God declare that Jesus was God! II. It was good to be there because they were learning about glory. A. I dont know that it is essential that we learn about glory. 1. There isnt much of it on this planet. 2. By the time most of us get to see it, we will be well on our way to being in glory. 3. But it was good for these men to be there because they got an introduction to glory. B. Like many others, I have heard of the glory of God but have yet to see it. 1. I have struggled through the years to define it. 2. In the last few years, I have borrowed a definition that I read somewhere. 3. Glory is the outward manifestation of the inward purity of God. 4. That means we will never come into the presence of God without first walking through His glory. C. What is Gods glory like? 1. Bible descriptions says it is bright. Mark 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. Matt 17:2 his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Luke 9:29 the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. 2. I can imagine that it is beautiful. 3. I believe glory has POWER with it as well. a. When people stepped into it, it often effected them. b. John and Ezekiel were left weak. c. Daniel was left sick for certain days \#Dan 8:27\. D. Outside of these speculations, there is little I can tell you of the glory of God, but these men left the mountain top that night with a better knowledge than I will have until I see Jesus face to face. III. It was good to be there because they were learning about the Father. A. We forget somethings that while we serve only one God, the three Persons of the Godhead are not the same. 1. The men learned something about Jesus that night. 2. Then the learned something about the Father. B. It am certain that God had a purpose for happened on the mountain that night. 1. God never does anything without a purpose. 2. What might that purpose have been? a. I think the transformation of Jesus was a revealing miracle. b. I think the appearance of Moses and Elijah was something else. I believe it was a ministering miracle. (1) I suspect that Jesus was getting a little homesick. Jesus had been away from home for a long time. (2) But then again, it could have been that Jesus was on the final leg of His mission and needed some encouragement. If you combine the gospels, it would appear that Jesus was already heading toward Jerusalem for the last time. C. Whatever the purposes, God seemed content to let Elijah and Moses handle ituntil Peters statement in verse 5. 1. Then the Father had to speak. 2. He had to clear up some misunderstandings. 3. I think we can learn some things about the Father from that. D. What should they have learned about God that day? 1. God is Father to the Son. There is a relationship there. 2. God loves the Son. God has no pride in the human sense of vanity or selfish arrogance, but I can almost hear in His voice the respect of His Sons devotion and obedience. 3. God exalts the Son. The Father remained silent and was content to let Moses and Elijah speak to Jesus until Peter confused glorified men with the divine Son. Then God Himself stepped in to exalt the Son as He was worthy to be exalted! And so heaven came down! What a glorious event that was. God made Himself and His Son know, but then He was gone. Even on that night, God did not force Himself into a place where He is not wanted. He left and heaven followed Him. If we want God, we must create a place for Him to rule. We are so full of ourselves that there is no place for God in our lives. We must repentcast out self. If we see the need, desire heaven come down, and rid ourselves of self, God will send it. Oh, would it not be good to be in such a place!